1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus, a signal processing method, a signal processing system, program and medium. In particular, the present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus, a signal processing method, a signal processing system, program and medium which, when a plurality of apparatuses are connected, changes the functions of the apparatuses to make it possible for the processing performed on an input signal to be shared out among the plurality of apparatuses, thereby making it possible to obtain a higher quality processing result than when a single apparatus is used.
2. Description of the Related Art
As examples, devices such as a digital VTR (Video Tape Recorder) and a DVD (Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) player are used by connecting them to a television receiver or the like so that users can watch and listen to reproduced images and audio. This is to say, the images and audio reproduced by a digital VTR or the like are supplied to a television receiver with the images being displayed on the screen and the audio being outputted from a speaker or speakers.
When images and audio that are reproduced by a digital VTR are outputted by a television receiver, some of the signal processing circuits provided in the television receiver do not perform any particular processing.
This is to say, when as one example, component signals are outputted from a digital VTR, the signal processing circuits in the television receiver that convert a composite signal into component signals do not need to perform any processing, and so become idle.
On the other hand, when a television receiver is connected to a digital VTR as described above, it is believed that it would be possible to provide users with higher-quality images and audio if the signal processing circuit of the television receiver and the signal processing circuit of the digital VTR could be made to operate in concert to share the processing performed on signals such as images and audio.
However, as a rule, all of the circuits in the internal circuitry of an appliance such as a television receiver are electrically connected via circuit boards or the like. Accordingly, there is the problem that it is not easy to change the internal circuits.
When a plurality of appliances are connected, such as when a television receiver and a digital VTR are connected, some kind of signal cable is provided and image signals, audio signals, etc., are transferred via this signal cable, though there is the problem of the time and effort required to connect the devices with a signal cable.
It should be noted that while the preceding explanation refers to the example of an image appliance, such as a television receiver, the same problem also exists for various other types of electronic devices.
The present invention was conceived in view of the above situation, and it is an object of the present invention to simplify changes in the functions of apparatuses and the adding of other appliances by making it unnecessary to change the internal wiring or to connect devices with signal cables.